Pressing machine for garments

ABSTRACT

A pressing machine for garments in which at least two conjointly operated and aligned pressing forms are moveable between at least one pressing station and at least one mounting station so that while a garment is being pressed on one of the forms at the pressing station, an already pressed garment can be removed from the other form and a garment to be pressed mounted thereon at the mounting station.

United States Patent 1 June 20, 1972 Engelbart [54] PRESSING MACHINE FOR GARMENTS [72] Inventor: Wilhelm Engelbart, Heilbronn, Germany [73] Assignee: Rheem International Inc., New York, NY.

[22] Filed: Nov. 16, 1970 [21] App]. No.: 89,924

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Dec. 13, 1969 Germany ..P 19 62 611.0

[52] US. Cl ..38/22, 38/2 [51] Int. Cl. ..D06f 71/08 [58] Field of Search ..38/4-6, 7, 2, 17-37, 38/39-41; 223/57, 70; 214/1 L; 100/144, 193, 214, 215, 102

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,757,833 8/1956 Petre ..38/22 X 1,596,713 8/1926 Boyuls ..38/22 3,464,602 9/1969 Romansky.... ...223/57 3,126,658 3/1964 Carskadon ..38/5

Primary Examiner.lordan Franklin Assistant ExaminerG. V. Larkin AttorneyBlum, Moscovitz, Friedman & Kaplan [57] ABSTRACT A pressing machine for garments in which at least two conjointly operated and aligned pressing forms are moveable between at least one pressing station and at least one mounting station so that while a garment is being pressed on one of the forms at the pressing station, an already pressed garment can be removed from the other form and a garment to be pressed mounted thereon at the mounting station.

3 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PRESSING MACHINE FOR GARMENTS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Conventional pressing machines for garments and especially outerwear garments, operate with a fixed lower pressing fonn or shaping board and a single upper pressing form, shaping form or shaping board, with the upper shaping board suspended from an articulated system of levers situated behind and above the shaping boards and employing a weightbalancing system or the like for lifting the upper shaping board upwardly and obliquely around a pivot point. The operator stands in front of the shaping boards and places the item to be pressed on the lower shaping board. Both shaping boards are generally hollow and are provided with passages through which steam may be ducted. The lower board of conventional machines may also be connected to a negative pressure or vacuum system. The machines may be equipped with a simple system of program control cards for controlling the sequence of operation. However, inview of the unprotected form of construction and of safety regulations which normally specify a two knob actuation system, the pressing boards may not close again automatically after completion of an opening action. Such restriction prevents the known pressing machines from being operated with optimum automatic control to perform ironing, steaming, and de-shining of the wide variety of fabrics currently in use.

Also, steam from the known type of machines escapes into the atmosphere, rendering it uncomfortable for the operator standing near the machine and generally creating unfavorable temperature and humidity conditions throughout the workroom in which the machine is located.

With known types of machines, to press the back and both side panels of a jacket in a manner corresponding to their shape, it is necessary to have three different pressing machines, namely one for the rear panel and one for each of the two front side panels. The expenditure on machinery and the cost of labor is thus relatively high.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Generally speaking, in accordance with the invention, a machine is provided which substantially eliminates the aforesaid disadvantages, optimizes automation of the pressing operation and renders the automated pressing operation readily adaptable to the techniques required for garments of different fabrics and of different shapes. While the invention disclosed herein is intended primarily for use during the manufacture of garments, it is also suitable for the subsequent care and treatment of completed or partially finished garments.

According to a preferred form of the invention, a lower shaping board is arranged on a carriage which is moveable between a mounting station and a pressing station. In view of the separation of the mounting and pressing areas, the positioning and movement of upper shaping boards is not limited as in the prior art due to the presence of the operator and the requirement that the garment be mounted and dismounted at the pressing station. As the mounting and removal of garments to be pressed is no longer performed between the shaping boards, it is also possible for automatic operation to permit the upper shaping board to be lowered one or more times after lifting to perform several pressing operations as required by the character of the fabric being pressed or the operation being performed. The danger of injury to the operator placing the garments in position is eliminated by the spacial separation between the mounting and pressing stations.

In one form of the invention, two pressing stations may be located on opposite sides of a single mounting station, with the carriage having two lower shaping boards mounted in alignment in the direction of displacement. In such manner, while one pressing board is at a pressing station, the other is at the mounting station. With such arrangement, the pressing stations are operated alternately and the operator need not stand idle while pressing is taking place as one pressing board is always located at the mounting station for the removal of a garment already pressed and the mounting of a garment to be pressed during the time while yet another garment is being pressed in the pressing station. With such an arrangement, it is possible to substantially increase productivity while reducing investment on equipment having the same production rate. For example, to press a blazer, it it possible to arrange a back panel shaping board at one part of the carriage and two narrower frontal side panel shaping boards situated beside each other on the other part of the carriage. A blazer may thus be pressed on a single machine by one operator with three blazers being processed at the same time. The cost of an automatic control system is considerably lower than the cost of three separate machines.

In view of the lateral and planar insertion of the lower shaping board into the pressing station, the arrangement of the suspension of the upper shaping board need not be in the form of the conventional articulated suspension. It is possible for the upper shaping board or boards to be arranged on vertical, rectilinear guideways in such manner as to be vertically displaceable. Furthermore, as the operator need not position the garment at the pressing station, it is also possible to reduce the extent of lift required of the upper shaping board. The smaller stroke required for the upper shaping board as compared with conventional machines reduces cycle time and also results in more uniform pressing as a result of the vertical movement of the upper pressing board as compared with the conventional arcuate movement.

The instant invention also contemplates the incorporation of lateral shaping boards which may be moved laterally to perform additional pressing operations over greater areas of a garment. As the operator need not have access to the garment at the pressing station, the lateral shaping boards can be located to best advantage.

With the pressing station remote from the mounting station, it becomes possible to surround the pressing station with a protective shielding to which a suction blower may be connected to draw off emergent steam. The shielding need only be open at the ingress-egress opening for the lower shaping board. With such an arrangement, the temperature and humidity in the workroom, as well as in the immediate vicinity of the mounting station, is substantially improved. Also, the protective shielding imparts a safety factor by preventing personnel from being harmed by the pressing equipments which may be under automatic control.

As it is now possible to provide for automatic closing of the upper shaping board after it has been raised, improved pressing and finishing techniques become possible. For example, in addition to the known application of a vacuum to the lower shaping board, it becomes possible to apply a vacuum to the upper shaping board so that, under a controlled cycle of operation, where required to properly finish a particular type of material, a vacuum could, for example, be applied to lift sensitive fabrics off the seams to prevent the seams from being pressed through to show exteriorly of the garment.

With the improved pressing machine of the invention, additional automatic features are possible. For example, a gripper may be provided for effecting an automatic unloading of a pressed garment with the automatic unloader functioning at the pressing station so that the lower shaping board, when it is transferred from the pressing station to the mounting station, has already had the garment removed therefrom.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved pressing machine having at least two pressing forms and at least two stations, one of which is a pressing station and one of which is a mounting station, whereby pressing and mounting operations may take place concurrently.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved pressing machine capable of enchanced automatic operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide in an improved pressing machine a moveable carriage which carries at least two pressing forms moveable conjointly for the concurrent performance of different operations on each form at any instant of time.

Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a fuller understanding of the invention, reference is had to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a pressing machine constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the instant invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the machine of FIG. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows 22 on FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view looking in the direction of the arrows 33 on FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view looking in the direction of the arrows 44 on FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a partial elevational view similar to FIG. 1 showing the addition of a gripper for removing a garment from the pressing station;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view looking in the direction of arrows 66 on FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the gripper mechanism shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIGS. 1 through 4, pressing machine has a middle mounting or receiving station 21, a left side pressing station 22 and a right side pressing station 23. A frame 24 which rests on adjustable legs 25 carries two guides 26 which support a displaceable carriage 28 through rollers 27. A pneumatic cylinder 29 on frame 24 has a piston rod 30 acting on carriage 28 for controlling movement of the carriage. Mounted in line on the carriage are two steam chests 31 and 32. A shaping board or pressing form 33 is mounted on steam chest 31 and two shaping boards or pressing forms 34a and 34b are mounted on steam chest 32. Lower shaping board 33 is illustrated as the shaping board for a blazer back panel while shaping boards 34a and 34b are illustrated as being for the right and left side panels of a blazer. As shown in the drawings, lower shaping board 33 is positioned at receiving station 21 while lower shaping boards 34a and 34b are located at pressing station 22. By displacement of carriage 28 through pneumatic cylinder 29, the lower shaping board 33 is moved to pressing station 23 and the lower shaping boards 34a and 34b are moved to receiving station 21. As used throughout this application, the terms lower and upper shaping boards, commonly used in Europe are respectively interchangeable with the terms bucks and heads", commonly used in the United States.

Two vertically-positioned pneumatic cylinders 36 are provided at each pressing station carried by a support frame 35. The pistons of pneumatic cylinders 36 carry steam chests 37, 37a and 37b, on which are fastened the upper shaping board 38 for the blazer back panel at right side pressing station 23 and the two upper shaping boards 39a and 39b at the left side pressing station 22. The shaping boards 38, 39a and 39b may, by means of pneumatic cylinders 36, be selectively and individually moved into and out of engagement with their respective cooperating lower shaping boards.

Each steam chest is provided with a steam connector 41 by which steam may be introduced into the steam chests through flexible pipes (not shown). As is known in the pressing art, the shaping boards are hollow and communicate with the steam chests. The profile of a pressing board is determined by the particular panel to be pressed and a plurality of apertures is provided in the face of each pressing board to permit the passage of steam therethrough. Pressing boards are normally covered with suitable facing materials such as textile fabric, wire cloth, asbestos and the like. A valve (not shown) is normally provided between each steam chest and the shaping board mounted thereto for controlling the delivery of steam from the steam chest to the garment through the shaping board. Each steam chest is also provided with a vacuum connector 42 which passes through the steam chest and opens into the shaping board cavity so that a vacuum can be applied to the surface of the shaping board through the apertures and the facing material.

Each of the pressing stations 22 and 23 is surrounded by a protective shielding 44 which may also act as a suction casing. The protective shielding is closed except for the side 45 facing toward the receiving station. A connector stub 46 communicates with each protective shielding 44 for connection to a suction pipe (not shown) in order to draw off steam escaping at the pressing station to prevent the steam from escaping toward the operator and entering the general area of the workroom.

The right side pressing station 23, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, is also provided with lateral shaping boards 50, which render possible the pressing of portions of a blazer or other garment hanging over lateral surfaces 51 of lower shaping board 33 to be pressed laterally during the pressing operation. Lateral shaping boards 50 are mounted on steam chests 52 which are also provided with a steam connector 41 and a vacuum connector 42. Each steam chest 52 is mounted on a pivot lever 54 at a joint 53 and the angular position of the steam chest relative to pivot lever 54 is adjustable by means of a set screw and nut 55. Each pivot lever 54 is pivoted to frame 24 at a joint 56 at the lower corner 57 of the gate-like frame portion 35. Pivot lever 54 is moveable toward and from the lower shaping board by means of a pneumatic cylinder 58 mounted on the frame and having its piston rod 59 pivoted through the lever 54 through a pivot pin 60.

While not shown, it will be understood that the foregoing machine is equipped with appropriate connecting pipes, valves, switches and the like for actuating the different pneumatic cylinders and for feeding steam and applying vacuum to the connecting pipes. The machine is also preferably equipped with an automatic programmed control system which may be housed in a control cabinet located adjacent receiving station 21. A card-controlled system can be provided for the purpose of having the various components of the machine operated in a desired sequence dictated by the operation to be performed on the garments being finished. Two-hand" safety switches 72 are located at the work station 71 at the receiving station 21 which serves to commence operation of the programmed sequence.

The operation of the foregoing machine may now be described. When pressing machine 20 is in the condition illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 4, a pressing cycle has already been performed. Two blazers are positioned in the left side pressing station 22, the left front panel of one blazer having been pressed, steamed or cooled between lower shaping board 34b and upper shaping board 39b and the right front panel of the second blazer having been treated in the same manner between the lower shaping board 34a and the upper shaping board 39a. If desired, the two upper shaping boards 39a and 39b may also have been utilized to perform different types of finishing operations. During the time of the cycle illustrated, the operator places the back panel of a blazer on the lower shaping board 33 which is then positioned in the receiving station 21 with the sleeves and the frontal side panels hanging down laterally or being held on receiving boards, receiving baskets or the like (not shown). The item to be pressed, which is to be placed in position in the aforesaid manner, is laid smoothly on the lower shaping board, during which time it may be drawn into contact by a partial vacuum applied to the lower shaping board by means under the control of a footoperated switch (not shown). On completion of the pressing or other finishing operations such as steaming, de-shining and the like, in the left side pressing station 22, the pneumatic cylinders 36 lift steam chests 37a, 37b with their upper shaping boards 39a, 39b off the two blazer front panels, carriage 28 is displaced toward the right by means of cylinder 29 and the lower shaping board 33 with the blazer resting on it moved to the right side pressing station 23. The upper shaping board 38 is lowered and, if appropriate, raised and lowered several times by means of the pneumatic cylinders 36. Also, lateral shaping boards 50 may be rendered effective to perform one or more operations by means of pneumatic cylinders 58. Depending on the requirements of the pressing operation, the shaping boards are supplied with steam and/or vacuum under programmed control so that it is possible to perform the processing operation by pressing, smoothing, steaming, deshining or otherwise, depending on the material being finished. At the same time, at the receiving station, the two blazers which had been pressed in the left side pressing station are removed or re-positioned, depending on their state of completion. In the example shown, three blazers are in the machine at any time and, at the end of each complete cycle, one blazer has been completely pressed and is completely removed and a new blazer is introduced. The cycle repeats continuously with the carriage moving sequentially to the left, to the right, to the left and so on. The cycle may be wholly or partially programmed for automatic operation.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 through 7, there is shown at the left side pressing station a device for automatically removing a garment from the left side pressing station. In the embodiment of FIGS. 5 through 7, lower shaping board 34 and upper shaping board 39 are planar boards for pressing trousers. An intermediate frame 80 is pivotally mounted at the rear of lower shaping board 34 and is illustrated in the raised position by phantom lines in FIG. 5. The intermediate frame is intended for inter-position between the two legs of a pair of trousers. In the middle of the intermediate frame, it is formed with a trapezoidal portion 81 which may be faced with double brass wire gauze between which is placed latex foam.

At the left end 82 of lower shaping board 34, a receiving table 83 is fastened on carriage 28. A trouser waistband 84 is loosely laid on table 83. The left end of protective shielding 44 is provided with an opening through which table 83 may extend as indicated in phantom lines in FIG. 5.

The extracting device is indicated generally at 87 in FIG. 5 and comprises a gripper 88 which can extract a completely pressed pair of trousers 89 from the pressing station. A beam 90 extends from frame 24 and at the end of beam 91 is pivoted an arm 92 at pivot point 93. Arm 92 is biased in a direction toward the pressing station by a spring 94 and is positively driven in the reverse direction by means of a pneumatic cylinder 95 shown in FIG. 5 with its piston rod in the extended position. At the upper end 96 of arm 92 is a gripper plate 97 which is in fixed relation to arm 92, the angular position of the upper gripper plate 97 being so arranged that in the operative (phantom line) position shown in FIG. 5 in which the plate has been pivoted over table 83, the plate is in contact with the trouser waistband 84 and is approximately parallel to the table.

A lower gripper plate 99 is pivotally mounted on gripper arm 92 at 96 and is operated by means of a pneumatic cylinder 100 for movement toward and from the upper gripper plate 97. As best seen in FIG. 6, table 83 is provided with a central recess 102 of sufficient size to receive and pass lower gripper plate 99. A supporting wire hanger 103 extends into recess 102 to prevent sagging of the trouser waistband 84. As shown in FIG. 7, a slot 101 is provided centrally of lower gripper plate 99 in order that the lower gripper plate not engage wire hanger 103. The gripper plates have their surfaces faced with gripping material such as foam rubber or the like so that the trouser waistband will be securely gripped. In order to effect a release of the trouser waistband on opening of the gripper plates, wire bows 105 are mounted across the lower gripper plate 99 engaging the lower gripper plate at 107 at one end and at 106 at the other end where the wire bows are formed into compression springs. The wire bows of such construction permit the bows to be deflected when the gripper plates are closed and, on the opening of the gripper plates, the resiliency of the wire bows aid in stripping the trousers from the lower gripper plates.

A receiving stand 110 (FIGS. 5 and 6) is provided on beam and the extracted trousers are dropped thereon during removal from the pressing station and hang thereover when released from the gripper plates.

The device of FIGS. 5 through 7 operates in the following manner. In the position illustrated in FIG. 5, the lower shaping board 34 is in the receiving station 21. With intermediate frame 80 in the raised position, the lower trouser leg is spread out smoothly on the lower shaping board 34 whereafter intermediate frame 80 is folded down onto the lower trouser leg and the upper trouser leg is then spread out smoothly over the intermediate frame. The waistband 84 rests on table 83 and on wire hanger 103. Carriage 28 is then shifted to pressing station 22 and a pressing operation is performed by lowering the upper shaping board 39. On completion of the pressing or finishing operation, gripper 88 is rotated by pneumatic cylinder from the rest position shown in full lines in FIG. 5 to the gripping position shown in phantom lines in FIG. 5 in which upper gripper plate 97 is in contact with the upwardly facing portion of trouser waistband 84. Lower gripper plate 99 is rotated by means of pneumatic cylinder against the downward facing portion of trouser waistband 84. Arm 92 is then moved toward the rest position while carriage 28 is moved toward the receiving station thereby pulling the trousers out of pressing station 22 toward the left. The trousers are laid over receiving stand 110 and the lower gripper plate 99 is pivoted to the open position whereupon the trousers are fully dropped onto receiving stand 1 10 with wire bows assuring of the stripping of the trouser waistband from the lower gripping plate. Several pair of trousers can be piled up on receiving stand 110. It will also be understood that the extracting device can be used to remove other types of garments from the pressing machine and that modifications of the gripper plate arrangements can be made to suit the requisite gripping operation.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained, and, since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

What is claimed is:

1. A pressing machine comprising a frame, a carriage moveably mounted on said frame, displacement means cooperating between said frame and said carriage for shifting said carriage along an axis, at least one pressing form mounted on said carriage, means defining at least one pressing station adjacent said frame for cooperation with said pressing form for performing operations on a garment on said pressing form, means defining at least one mounting station spaced from said pressing station along said axis, gripping means mounted on said frame adjacent said pressing station, said gripping means being disposed on the opposite side of said pressing station from said mounting station along said axis, and a receiving stand mounted on said frame intermediate said gripping means and said pressing station whereby garments removed from said pressing station by said gripping means will fall onto said receiving stand.

2. A pressing machine as defined in claim 1 wherein said gripping means includes an arm pivoted on said frame, first actuating means operating between said frame and said pivoted 3. A pressing machine as claimed in claim 2 wherein said first gripper plate overlies said second gripper plate, said first gripper plate making contact with a garment on said pressing form when actuated by said first actuating means. 

1. A pressing machine comprising a frame, a carriage moveably mounted on said frame, displacement means cooperating between said frame and said carriage for shifting said carriage along an axis, at least one pressing form mounted on said carriage, means defining at least one pressing station adjacent said frame for cooperation with said pressing form for performing operations on a garment on said pressing form, means defining at least one mounting station spaced from said pressing station along said axis, gripping means mounted on said frame adjacent said pressing station, said gripping means being disposed on the opposite side of said pressing station from said mounting station along said axis, and a receiving stand mounted on said frame intermediate said gripping means and said pressing station whereby garments removed from said pressing station by said gripping means will fall onto said receiving stand.
 2. A pressing machine as defined in claim 1 wherein said gripping means includes an arm pivoted on said frame, first actuating means operating between said frame and said pivoted arm for moving said pivoted arm toward and from said pressing station, a first gripper plate fixedly mounted to said pivoted arm, a second gripper plate pivotally mounted to said pivoted arm and second actuating means operating on said second gripper plate for moving said second gripper plate toward and from said first gripper plate.
 3. A pressing machine as claimed in claim 2 wherein said first gripper plate overlies said second gripper plate, said first gripper plate making contact with a garment on said pressing form when actuated by said first actuating means. 